It was so weird. We were given our four original golden chickens almost 18 months ago. It was a long time for chickens! We got them and created a pen for them. It wasn't our ideal set-up but since the chickens arrived unexpectedly we didn't have time to create what we really wanted to for them. And it worked. Initially we were worried about predators coming at night so we'd keep the little door on their chicken house closed. But we got a little lazy since the chickens all wanted to be out and about and released from the coop long before we wanted to wake up in the morning. We took to just leaving the door open. And nothing ever happened. Even in the day time there could have been danger - the little pen where they hung out had no roof or covering or protection. But nothing ever happened.
Chase did mention once that he saw a small bird of prey hanging out nearby, but we didn't really think anything of it. After all, if it had been a problem, wouldn't that problem have happened long before 18 months had passed? No. The answer to that question is a NO. I guess the hawks had not yet figured out that they had some pretty easy pickings at the Preslar house. But then one terrible Saturday I went outside to feed the chickens and was horrified to find our very favorite and very sweetest chicken, Sweetie, lying dead on the ground. Dead and super gross. We were absolutely heartsick and could only assume that it had been a hawk that had gotten her.
It was just two days later, on Monday, that I went outside and found another chicken dead, this time one of the original goldens. Again, I was just sickened. So sad. I called Troy to tell him about it and we realized that our chickens were going to continue to be picked off one by one until we had none left. I shooed them all into the coop and locked the door while Troy took the rest of the day off of work and dashed off to Home Depot where he bought the supplies to fortify our pen.
In just one day - from about noon until about 11:00 that night - Troy and I worked our tails off to build a frame that would enclose the pen entirely. I can't really describe the amount of work it took - just....it was a lot of work. We were so exhausted. But we did it. The kids were troopers and alternatively helped us, stayed out of our way, and took care of themselves. Interestingly, we saw the hawk come down more than once to investigate what we were up to. Yes, I used to think Cooper's Hawks were pretty but now I don't feel quite so nice about them.
We felt really proud of ourselves and felt like our remaining five chickens were finally safe. After all, no hawk was getting through this encasement of chicken wire!
But then...I took Emma to her violin lesson on Saturday and when I got home, Troy pulled me inside and desperately whispered that we needed to talk. We went out to the backyard where he told me he thought that all of our chickens were dead. He was right. They were. All five gone in one night. Our best guess is a raccoon. It totally baffled us how our chickens could be totally carefree for an entire year and a half but then be discovered and devoured in less than a week. We realized that there were spots in the chicken wire enclosure that a raccoon could have pushed through - after all, we were really thinking about attacks from the sky. There were a few spots that a larger animal could have forced apart.
Well needless to say, we were totally heartbroken. The raccoon made a disgusting mess all over our yard and our neighbor's yard. We cried as we picked up the pieces. We vowed revenge but I guess the raccoons got what they wanted and haven't been back for us to catch and kill and skin and turn their pelts into hideous stinky hats.
We look forward to the spring when we will start again with an army of new little chickens but not before we reinforce the crap out of our chicken yard.
Stupid nature and your stupid raccoons.
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